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When should one use 聴く instead of 聞く? Is there a precise rule for which one to
use in which situation?

I have a feeling that 聞 is used more when the source of the sound is a person
or other living being, whereas 聴 is reserved for when the source of the sound
is a inanimate object. Am I correct?

What about 訊く?


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question
kanji verbs homophonic-kanji
When to use 聴く vs 聞く vs 訊く?


I think of the difference between 聴く and 聞く as the difference between "to
listen" and "to hear". That is,

> 彼の話を聴いてる.  
>  I'm listening to his story.

but

> 音が聞こえてる.  
>  I can hear sounds.
>
> 大きい音を聞くと気持ち悪くなる。  
>  If I hear loud noise, I start feeling sick.

(which are examples contrary to your animate/inanimate hypothesis).

Intentional listening should be 聴く, the hearing of sounds should be 聞く.


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When I see 聴 my mind basically jumps first to 音楽を聴く. As mentioned this has the
meaning of _listening_ to something with some sort of interest in it. You
might want to connect it to the word 傾聴, which means "to listen intently," or
roughly that. Of course you can use 聞く in that sentence but that kanji has a
broader meaning of hearing in general. The difference is basically the same as
that between 見る and 観る, as in 犬を見た vs. 映画を観た.

Asking questions has its own dedicated kanji as well: 訊く. You could probably
translate this as "inquire," as using that kanji gives it a slightly more
refined feel, and I think that this holds true for the others as well. The
choice to use these kanji is deliberate and creates extra nuance as to the
nature of what you are hearing (vs. listening), seeing (vs. watching), asking
(vs. inquiring), etc.

Just a note from the
[dictionary](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E8%81%B4%E3%81%8F) on the usage of
聴く:

> (2)心を落ち着け注意して耳に入れる。傾聴(けいちよう)する。《聴》 「音楽を―・く」

And 訊く:

> (4)（「訊く」とも書く）たずねて、答えを求める。問う。 「名前を―・く」「自分の胸に―・く」


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